New Year often brings a lot of encouragement to start again, create intentions, and start the year positively to make the most out of it. Although these suggestions are with the best intent, sometimes we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make the right intentions, to keep them, and to berate yourself if you don’t quite achieve ‘goals’ in your expected time frame.
This turns something positive into something stressful and negative, which is completely the opposite of the objective!
Here’s our sure ways to help you to set your intentions and keep them for a fulfilling, exciting and constructive year!
Take your time
Many feel that intentions must be set and written in stone by January 1st, to start as soon as the gong of midnight strikes. This ‘deadline’ is completely in the mind and can force you to make wrong decision and choices. Instead, take your time. Grab a cup of tea, and jot down some ideas. Let them manifest for a few hours/days, and then come back to it and refine. Maybe your final list doesn’t conclude until the 15th January. THAT’S FINE! Make your intentions the right ones.
Find new intentions
Sometimes we recycle intentions - trying out old ones that haven’t worked. Maybe there’s a reason they haven’t worked, and they need to be left for a while. It’s a better idea to find new ones, or spin the old ones. Like instead of ‘loose 10 pounds in 3 month’ try ‘be more body positive’.
Set reasonable intentions
We’re all for shooting for the stars - go for your dreams! But be true, honest and reasonable to yourself. Try not to set intentions that are too big physically, mentally, emotionally or financially within 12 months. Maybe take it down to a more manageable goal, and if that’s achieved sooner, move onto the next stage to reach the ultimate target! Like fancy climbing Everest, but not much a hiker yet? Maybe go for a few of the big Aussie ones this year and get your walking legs going.
Break it down
Making your intentions into bite-size chunks means you can have celebratory milestones, and feel yourself edging towards your final target. Maybe write monthly or quarterly goals to make it to your intention. For example, if your goal is to meditate for an hour a day, start with 10 minutes every other day for the first month, then go up in increments!
Use a planner or notebook
Help you to keep track of your intentions and progress with a little notebook or planner. This will help you to stay on top of it, watch your progress, and see what’s coming next with acheiving the intentions!
Reassess after a few months!
Maybe you realise after trying, an intention isn’t going to work out. That’s fine! Life moves in shift and ways we cannot predict. Just have another look, and re-jiggle it to create a new one for the rest of the year.
Need more help with setting the right intentions for the year? Don’t hestitate to contact us for some one-on-one advice!